Making it Right

Pitcher with leaf spout - 26.5 cm x 19 cm. Wheel thrown and hand built. Brown gloss glaze is a local clay I call "creek mud."

I've been leafing through pottery magazines for a few years now and when I come across something eye catching, I get out the exacto knife and carefully remove the picture from the page and glue it into a scrap book. I have some old issues of Ceramics Monthly - 1977 - 1981 - that were given to me by Dennis Cape when he sold his kiln to me. Dennis was so kind to me. He not only gave me 5 years worth of magazines, but several books too. The pictures I have in my scrapbook are mostly from these old magazines. I've also culled glaze recipes and handy pottery tips!

Since 2003, I've been gifted with a new subscription to a pottery magazine each year at Christmas. It's been a great source of inspiration and now that spring is here I've been inspired to purge the house of some clutter! The old issues are being given a final go-thru. The knife and glue sticks are flying. Staples are being pulled and the recycling bin is slowly filling with dusty, vintage pottery mags.

In the newer magazines I began to notice the trend of things unrelated. It intrigued me this idea of making a piece that is two concepts in one, like the pitcher above. Part wheel thrown and part hand built, this jug wasn't all that lovely the first time I pulled it from the kiln. In fact, JF nicknamed it the Franken Jug. There was no true marriage between the brown and the green. Also the piece was a little under fired making the brown glaze too matte for my liking. The green hadn't fully matured either.

I decided to re-fire the piece and add more green glaze around the top portion of the pitcher where before the colours didn't overlap. I got inspired to do this because on the inside of the pitcher I saw that the glazes, one on top of the other, were a great combination. I brushed a thin layer of green glaze onto the pitcher, not knowing how my applying it in this way would turn out. I usually pour my glazes onto pieces or dip them into a bucket of glaze. I was just trusting my instincts.

Once re-fired I felt I had achieved a very pleasing result. I love that the brown glaze is now a deep, rich gloss thanks to the re-fire. I love the green "toucan" spout and how the overlapping of the two colours brought the top and bottom together. Every time I look at it I'm reminded of the art deco period. Maybe it's the rings in the body of the jug or the earthy colours of pottery from that era.